Obituary of Ashleigh Dueck

On her 38th birthday, an oncologist told Ashleigh that it was time to halt the experimental treatment in Rhode Island, pack up her family, and head home as soon as possible. She celebrated one last, bittersweet, gluttonous Christmas with her husband and four children before braving the journey home to Steinbach, Manitoba.

Steinbach was Ashleigh’s adoptive home, and the friendships she made there formed deep and lasting bonds. They carried her through several trials of ill health, culminating in the 27-month battle with cancer that claimed her precious life and left her family bereft, but not without a beautiful community of loving support. It is also where she and Jordan established their family, and she bore and raised her children with painstaking love and care.

She grew up in the lush rainforests of remote Vancouver Island, in trusting communion with untamed nature and the spirit of Jesus. New adventures and the pursuit of studies in counselling psychology led her across the Canadian prairies, but her heart remained at the oceanside, with the moss and the ferns and the ancient firs. We will seek her there when all things are made new, our hope of reconciliation.

Dearest Ashleigh Louise—daughter, sister, wife, mama—you will be bitterly missed by those you leave behind: your husband, Jordan (36), your children, Nienna Verity (10), Eveah Róisín (7), Cressida Heulwen Lieve (4), and Skandar Pax Barnabas (2); as well as parents, Rob and Debbie Hoffman; parents-in-law, Rod and Sharon Dueck; brothers Josh and Ben and their families; sisters-in-law Jaimee and Kelsey and their families; and innumerable friends across the continent and abroad. Know you are loved.

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The funeral for Ashleigh Dueck will be live-streamed on Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 1:00 PM CST, and it will be available afterwards for viewing. Link for details: https://stonehousechurch.ca/funeral-for-ashleigh-dueck

Donations for the Dueck family can be made online via GoFundMe (https://www.gofundme.com/f/87u2rd-ashleigh039s-cancer-killing-warriors?qid=a396a371d0205ae99a7d39887043df26), or deposited directly into the Ashleigh Dueck Memorial Fund (Acct #110475350895) at the Steinbach Credit Union.

Read Ashleigh’s blog for details of her journey of the past 27 months: https://ashleighsupdates.home.blog/